Communication Department Blog

On Monday, April 28, Assistant Professor of Communication, Teri L. Varner was awarded the 2014 Outstanding Undergraduate Faculty Advisor Award. This is the second consecutive year that the Dean's office staff has nominated Dr. Varner for Outstanding Faculty Advisor for the School of Humanities. This prestigious award is presented to faculty members who have demonstrated qualities associated with outstanding academic advising of students. Winners from each school will receive a plaque at the Honors Night Ceremony. One overall winner will represent St. Edwards University and receive a $250 stipend and a plaque at the Honors Night Ceremony.Eligibility:Any faculty member who fits in the following category:• Academic Advising – Secondary RoleFaculty members whose primary responsibility is teaching, and who spend a portion of their time providing academic advising services to their students.

Criteria:Each school’s selection committee will evaluate nominations on the evidence of qualities and practices that distinguish the nominee as an outstanding advisor. Such evidence may include:• Strong interpersonal skills• Availability to students, faculty, or staff• Frequency of contact with advisees• Evidence of student success rate, by advisor or department• Advisee or departmental evaluations (summary data)• Caring, helpful attitude toward advisees, faculty, and staff• Participation in and support of proactive advising to build strong relationships with students• Facilitating student progress toward academic, learning, and personal goals through developmental advising• Mastery of institutional rules, regulations, policies, and procedures• Participation in and support of advisor development programs• Responsiveness to the needs of particular student constituencies• Club sponsorship(s)

Communication Professors Scott Christopherson and Innes Mitchell conducted a pre-departure orientation on Monday, April 7, for students studying abroad with them in Scotland this summer. Under Professor Christopherson's supervision, the students will be filming a documentary focused on the Scottish Referendum for Independence.

​Angel Lugo, Bryan, and Carol, three volunteers from Austin Atheists Helping the Homeless, spoke about the mission of their organization in Dr. Innes Mitchell's Perspectives on Atheism class on Monday, April 7. Mona Chemis, a student in the class, made the contact with Angel and is organizing her group to participate in a forthcoming food giveaway with ATXAHH for a course assignment.

Dr. Garza’s chapter was published in the book Latina/o Discourse in Vernacular Spaces: Somos de una Voz? edited by Michelle A. Holling and Bernadette M. Calafell and published by Lexington Books (a division of Rowman & Littlefield).​Since it’s publication the book, in which Dr. Garza’s chapter appears, has been added to over 200 libraries throughout the world, including collections in the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Denmark, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand.

​Alix Jules, Chair of the Dallas Fort-Worth Coalition of Reason Diversity Council, spoke about Black Humanism in Professor Innes Mitchell's Perspectives on Atheism class on Wednesday, April 2. Alix traveled to Austin from Allen, Texas, north of Dallas, to speak with the class about his experiences growing up as a Black Nonbeliever and his activism with various Humanist groups in the Dallas Forth-Worth area.

Dr. Innes Mitchell spoke to the Women Empowerment student organization on Monday, March 31. The presentation, entitled "Pandora's Daughters, Sisters of Eve: Perspectives on Women's Disempowerment," addressed a range of psychological, cultural, and political forms for disempowerment leveled against women. ​Dr. Mitchell was the first invited guest speaker of the Women Empowerment group which formed in January 2014.